Chula Vista

Four Chula Vista businesses were destroyed and one was severely damaged Thursday in an early-morning, three-alarm fire that caused an estimated $750,000 worth of damage, a Chula Vista Fire Department official said.

There were no injuries, Capt. Jim Dyar said.

Tanos House of Hair Design beauty shop, The Trip West novelty shop, Pretty and Plump women’s wear and Devon Home Centers, all at 542 Broadway, were destroyed. A Radio Shack store sustained heavy water and smoke damage.

Investigators said the fire, which was reported at 1:32 a.m., appeared to have started in The Trip West. The first firefighters at the scene reported flames breaking through the roof of the single-story building that housed the businesses. Dyar said the fire was caused by an incendiary device but that he was not certain that it was deliberately set.

While firefighters battled the blaze, police officers evacuated several homes on Madison Avenue west of Broadway and south of the small shopping center, fire officials said. The fire did not spread beyond the shopping center, they said.

It took 45 firefighters from 13 fire companies in Chula Vista, San Diego, National City and Montgomery to put the hourlong fire out, Dyar said.